A rebel turned politician
Man who aims to rule Ivory Coast faces blame for decade-long conflict
In Ivory Coast, where big-man personalities dominate and switching allegiances is par for the course, Guillaume Soro — former student leader, rebel chief and prime minister — seems a perfect fit to one day lead the world’s biggest cocoa producer.
His loyalties have zigzagged over the years, from being a supporter of Laurent Gbagbo, the man who led Ivory Coast into a civil war, to backing Alassane Ouattara, who defeated Gbagbo in elections and recently accused Soro of trying to overthrow him. Soro called the allegations “pure fiction” in an emailed response to questions.
Through it all, Soro, 47, has never been shy about his desire to run French-speaking West Africa’s biggest economy. Last month in Paris, he announced he’s planning to return to contest presidential elections in October. But there’s a catch: He faces an arrest warrant on charges related to the alleged coup attempt. That’s heightened concern he might try to stoke unrest as the vote approaches.
“The reality is that they want to exclude me,” Soro said. “I won’t accept it. I’ll organize myself so that I can be in Ivory Coast and submit my political project to the voters.”
Soro is a divisive figure. Even though he’s publicly asked for forgiveness for his role in a decade-long conflict that split the country into a rebel-held north and a government-run south, many Ivorians blame him for the crisis that killed thousands and destroyed the livelihoods of many others.
As a 33-year-old rebel leader controlling northern Ivory Coast, few took him seriously in 2005 when he received visitors sitting on a red Louis XVI chair at his shabby headquarters and declared himself prime minister. Yet just two years later, he reached his goal by making a pact with then President Gbagbo, whom he had previously tried to oust.
Then, in 2010, he dropped Gbagbo, whose refusal to accept his defeat in elections sparked a violent six-month standoff, and deployed his rebel force alongside French and United Nations aircraft to help Ouattara assume the presidency.
That conflict — the country’s bloodiest — paralyzed cocoa exports for months and sent prices for the commodity soaring. Ivory Coast grows about 40 per cent of the world’s cocoa.
While a role as power broker in recent years appeared to set Soro on course for a high office, he suffered a fall from grace after the allegations emerged of a coup plan.
In December, the state prosecutor released a recording of a 2017 phone call in which Soro allegedly discussed a plot, before issuing the arrest warrant. About 15 of his closest collaborators were detained, and anti-tank missiles, rocket-propelled grenades and AK-47 assault rifles found in their homes. For some observers, the timing was suspiciously convenient with elections approaching.
“We could indeed ask legitimate questions about the period and the context chosen by the justice system to institute proceedings against Soro,” said Sylvain N’Guessan, a political analyst in Abidjan.
Commenting publicly on the issue for the first time last week, Ouattara told party loyalists “there’s no doubt” that a coup was being planned.
Soro quit the ruling coalition last year and resigned as speaker of parliament, a post he’d held since 2012. The rift was caused by Ouattara’s decision to groom Prime Minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly as his likely successor — if he chooses not to seek a third term, which is now allowed by a 2016 change to the constitution.
“The problem is that he’s still too much of a rebel and not enough of a polished politician,” said Kobi Annan, an analyst at risk consultancy Songhai Advisory in neighbouring Accra, Ghana.
“Ouattara believes in Soro’s potential, but he’s worried that he’s a little bit unpredictable and that, in an election year, is dangerous.”